The Election Day is wrapping up in Russia, as the nation’s polling stations close following a day of intense voting, marking the end of the landmark presidential race.
Preliminary results published by the Russian Central Election Commission (CEC) confirm that incumbent President Vladimir Putin is winning the race, receiving over 70 percent of the processed votes.
This reflects the current President’s soaring popularity amongst the Russian voters, who showed up in significant numbers to cast their ballots.
Although Putin’s victory was highly likely, the battle for second place remained the subject of much speculation, with veteran politician Vladimir Zhirinovsky going neck and neck with Pavel Grudinin, a newcomer to the world of high politics, who was advanced by the Russian Communist Party (KPRF).
It seems that the KPRF’s decision to present a fresh face has paid off, as the exit polls compiled by the Public Opinion Foundation state that Grudinin is expected to secure about 12 percent, while Zhirinovsky would gain half that amount.
In another surprising turn of events, another newcomer to presidential politics, former TV-personality Ksenia Sobchak is set to surpass all other minor opposition figures, receiving just under 2 percent.
As a result, she has beaten long-term opposition politician Grigory Yavlinsky, who was only supported by 1 percent of Russian voters, according to the preliminary data.
The left-wing candidate Maxim Suraykin, academic Sergey Baburin and businessman Boris Titov are not expected to even cross the 1 percent threshold.
So far, the CEC has processed 21.33 percent of all ballots, with full results expected to be published on Monday.